HertsInternet. Guide for Stevenage, Hertfordshire UK Other Towns.. Stevenage was designated the first New Town in the UK in 1946, after much protest from the residents of the town who felt they were being used as a test of what new towns could develop in to. Farmers were also angry about the fact that they were going to loose huge amounts of land to the new town development, but it still went ahead, creating homes for what now stands at a population of around 80,000. Development of Stevenage's new town was in the form of separate residential areas Bedwell, Broadwater, Chells, Pin Green, Shephall, Symonds Green, St. Nicholas, and Poplars. Each one builds up the town, and offers services to the localised community in each area, and provides for the needs of people without a journey across the town being necessary in many cases. Stevenage was the first pedestrianised traffic free shopping area in the country, which was officially named the Queensway by the Queen in 1959.

The town also has approximately 50 miles of cycle paths crossing the entire town, offering a safe way for people to cycle from one place to another. In the central part of the shopping area there is the Town Square, which has the 'Joyride' bronze statue of a mother and child, by Franta Belsky. There are also other monuments from the time of the New Town development, and these are part of what makes Stevenage have it's 50's/60's character and feel. The town is ideally situated for transport, with the East Coast main line adjacent to the centre, with trains from Scotland and the North of England, to Kings Cross in London. The A1(M) motorway is to the west of the town, with the M25 orbital motorway around London only 15 minutes down the A1(M). Books and maps about Stevenage... (listed by popularity) Sorry, we are currently unable to process your request in a timely manner. Please try again later.

Hertfordshire, UK | Article about Hertfordshire, UK by The Free Dictionary Hertfordshire, UK | Article about Hertfordshire, UK by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia . Hertfordshire (här`fərdshĭr, härt`–), county (1991 pop. 951,500), 631 sq mi (1,634 sq km), E central England. The county seat is Hertford Hertford, town (1991 pop. 21,350), E central England, on the Lea River. Hertford is an agricultural market with light industries, including brewing, flour milling, and the manufacture of leather goods and stationery. ..... Click the link for more information. , but Watford Watford, borough and district (1991 pop. 109,503), Hertfordshire, SE England. Watford is mainly residential with many kinds of shops. The city is renowned for its publishing and produces many of England's periodicals. ..... Click the link for more information.

, Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead , town (1991 pop. 80,110), Hertfordshire, SE England. Hemel Hempstead was designated one of the new towns in 1946 to alleviate overpopulation in London. It is a market town and London suburb. ..... Click the link for more information. , Stevenage Stevenage, city (1991 pop. 74,757) and district, Hertfordshire, E central England. Stevenage was the first new town to be designated under the New Towns Act of 1946, a program to decentralize population and industry. ..... Click the link for more information. , and St. Albans Saint Albans , city and district (1991 pop. 76,709), Hertfordshire, E central England. The market city of Saint Albans has printing, engineering, and clothing industries. Many of its residents work in London. ..... Click the link for more information. are more important urban centers.

Administratively, the county is divided into the districts of Three Rivers, Watford, Hertsmere, Welwyn Hatfield, Broxbourne, East Hertfordshire, Stevenage, North Hertfordshire, St. Albans, and Dacorum. The county contains four of the eight new towns new towns, planned urban communities in Great Britain, developed by long-term loans from the central government and first authorized by the New Towns Act of 1946. The chief purpose of the act was to reduce congestion in the great cities (or at least prevent its increase) through ..... Click the link for more information. planned around London since 1947: Hatfield Hatfield, town (1991 pop. 33,174), Hertfordshire, SE England. Hatfield was designated one of the new towns in 1948 to alleviate overpopulation in London. The plans for this new town were coordinated with those of nearby Welwyn Garden City. ..... Click the link for more information. , Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, and Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City , town (1991 pop.

40,665), Hertfordshire, E central England. It is a garden city, founded by Ebenezer Howard in 1920, as well as one of the new towns. Its industries produce a variety of products, including radio and television sets. ..... Click the link for more information. . The terrain is level except for an extension of the Chiltern Hills in the northwest. The chief streams are the Colne, the Lea, and the Stort, which drain into the Thames. Although one of London's "Home Counties," Hertfordshire is primarily an agricultural region, producing large quantities of wheat and hay as well as dairy products, vegetables, and flowers for the nearby London market. There are diverse industries, such as brickmaking, printing, brewing (especially in Watford), papermaking, and engineering. The county figured prominently in the military history of England, particularly during the Wars of the Roses (see Roses, Wars of the Roses, Wars of the, traditional name given to the intermittent struggle (1455–85) for the throne of England between the noble houses of York (whose badge was a white rose) and Lancaster (later associated with the red rose).

About the middle of the 15th cent. ..... Click the link for more information. ). Hertfordshire a county of S England, bordering on Greater London in the south: mainly low-lying, with the Chiltern Hills in the northwest; largely agricultural; expanding light industries, esp in the new towns. Administrative centre: Hertford. Pop.: 1 040 900 (2003 est.). Area: 1634 sq. km (631 sq. miles) Stevenage, Hertfordshire | Greenwich Mean Time Stevenage is a town in Hertfordshire, England. It is to the east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M) and is between Letchworth Garden City to the north, and Welwyn Garden City to the south. Stevenage has a population of around 80,000. Stevenage's prosperity came in part from the North Road, which was turnpiked in the early 18th century. In 1857 the Great Northern Railway was constructed, and the era of the stage coach had ended. Stevenage grew only slowly throughout the 19th century.

Stevenage was designated the first New Town on 1 August 1946 and was planned with six self-contained neighbourhoods. Close to Stevenage is Knebworth House, a gothic stately home and venue of globally well-known rock concerts since 1974. Official Town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire website: Rate this page Stevenage New Town Stevenage New Town Stevenage New Town Stevenage New Town London suffered great bomb damage during the War and something needed to be done to ease the housing pressure as bombsites and slums were cleared. In 1946, Stevenage was chosen as the site of the first ‘new town’, one of eight in the Greater London area. Each new town would provide housing for 60,000 people. On the whole, this was not a popular decision with the local people of Stevenage. They were worried about loss of community identity, property and worsening traffic conditions. Arguments for the new town included providing more space and freedom for many of those living in overcrowded conditions in London. Despite the objections, Stevenage was designated the first new town on 11th November 1946 and the Development Corporation was set up shortly afterwards.

A master plan was drawn up placing housing to the east and industry to the west. Six neighbourhoods were planned which would consist of 10,000 homes each with their own community centre, pub and shops. Stevenage would be the first town in the country to have a completely pedestrian town centre; a radical idea at the time. The first residents moved into their homes in the Monkswood and Broom Barns estates in 1952. Residents setting up home in the new town had to find work in Stevenage before they could be offered a house. Many workers in the building trade commuted from London to Stevenage every day. They working long hours, but benefited from the new housing that was available to them. The new town was not without its teething problems. Damp in the houses, shortages of materials and plagues of ants and earwigs were just a few. Local facilities were slower in setting up and new residents had to either make use of mobile shops or walk the mile or so to Old Stevenage often in muddy conditions on un-made roads. As the new town grew, there was more demand for services.

Between 1955 and 1965 a new school opened almost every year and in 1962 the Stevenage Bypass A1 (M) was built along the west side of the town to ease pressure on the dangerous Great North Road. In 1961 the Locarno Ballroom opened and hosted leading music acts such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones and Jimmy Hendrix. In 1972 a purpose built hospital for the New Town finally opened, The Lister. A new swimming pool opened and a Leisure Centre was built which later included the Gordon Craig Theatre in 1974. With good communication links by road and rail and affordable housing, Stevenage became attractive for new industries and businesses. English Electric was one of the first factories to settle on a 70 acre site, bringing plenty of employment to the area. By the 1980s, the work of the Stevenage Development Corporation had been completed. Stevenage Borough Council took over the administration of the town. By then, the population of Stevenage had grown to more than 75,000.

Stevenage, Hertfordshire - UK, Things to do, Hotels, Shopping, Weather | Towns Online UK > Hertfordshire > Stevenage Stevenage is a town and district in Hertfordshire, England. It is to the east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), and is between Letchworth Garden City to the north, and Welwyn Garden City to the south. Things to do in Stevenage Its population was 1,430 in 1801, 4,049 in 1901 and 79,724 in 2001. The largest increase occurred in the 1950s and 1960s, after Stevenage was designated a new town under the New Towns Act of 1946. The name was recorded as Stithenæce, c.1060 and Stigenace in 1086 in the Domesday Book. The present site of Stevenage lies near a Roman road that ran from Verulamium to Baldock.

Some Romano-British remains were discovered during the building of the New Town, and a hoard of 2,000 silver Roman coins was discovered in 1986 during new house building in the Chells Manor part of Stevenage. The most substantial evidence of activity from Roman times are the Six Hills, six tumuli by the side of the old Great North Road - presumably the burial places of a local family. A little to the east of the Roman sites the first Saxon camp was made in a clearing in the woods. This is where the church, manor house and the first village were later built. Similar settlements sprang up in the nearby areas of Chells, Broadwater and Shephall. In the Domesday Book, its Lord of the Manor was the Abbot of Westminster. The settlement had moved down to the Great North Road and in 1281 it was granted a Royal Charter to hold a weekly market and annual fair (still held in the High Street). The earliest part of St Nicholas Church dates from the 12th century, but it was probably a site of worship much earlier. The known list of priests or rectors is relatively complete from 1213.

The remains of a medieval moated homestead in Whomerley Wood is an 80 yard square trench almost 5 feet wide in parts. It was probably the home of Ralph de Homle, and both Roman and later pottery has been found there. For a description of the medieval manorial records, and details of Stevenage's history from the Tudor period to the Victorian era - see the external history link. In 1281 Stevenage was granted a twice weekly market and an annual fair. Both were probably held in the wide part of the present High Street to the north of Middle Row. The High Street is closed for an annual fair even today. Around 1500 the Church was much improved, with decorative woodwork within, and with the addition of a clerestory.

It was in the 16th century (1558) that Thomas Alleyne, most probably a former monk, founded a free grammar school for boys, Alleyne's Grammar School, which had an unbroken existence (unlike the grammar school in neighbouring Hitchin) till 1989 — the school (now a mixed comprehensive school) still exists on its original site at the north end of the High Street, but is shortly to move to the suburb of Great Ashby. Francis Cammaerts was headmaster of the school from 1952 to 1961. Stevenage's prosperity came in part from the North Road, which was turnpiked in the early 18th century. Many inns in the High Street served the stage coaches, 21 of which passed through Stevenage each day in 1800. In 1857 the Great Northern Railway was constructed, and the era of the stage coach had ended. Stevenage grew only slowly throughout the 19th century and a second church (Holy Trinity) was constructed at the south end of the High Street.

In 1861 Dickens commented "The village street was like most other village streets: wide for its height, silent for its size, and drowsy in the dullest degree. The quietest little dwellings with the largest of window-shutters to shut up nothing as if it were the Mint or the Bank of England." In 1928, Philip Vincent bought the HRD Motorcycle Co Ltd out of receivership, immediately moving it to Stevenage and renaming it the Vincent HRD Motorcycle Co Ltd. He produced the legendary motorcycles, including the Black Shadow and Black Lightning, in the town until 1955. This slow growth continued until, after the Second World War, the Abercrombie Plan called for the establishment of a ring of new towns around London. It was designated the first New Town on 1 August 1946. The plan was not popular with local people who protested at a meeting held in the town hall before Lewis Silkin, minister in the Labour Government of Clement Atlee. As Lewis Silkin arrived at the railway station for this meeting, some local people had changed the signs 'Stevenage' to 'Silkingrad'.

Ironically, although the New Towns Commission declared the Old Town would not be touched, the first significant building to be demolished in it was indeed the Old Town Hall, in which the opposition had been expressed. In keeping with the sociological outlook of the day, the town was planned with six self-contained neighbourhoods. The first two of these to be occupied were the Stoney Hall and Monks Wood "Estates" in 1951. Next to be built and occupied by the London 'overspill' was Bedwell in 1952 - The Twin Foxes pub was Stevenage's first "new" public house and is still situated in the Bedwell estate. The public house was named after local notorious identical twin poachers (Albert Ebenezer and Ebenezer Albert Fox). Next came Broadwater and Shephall (1953), then Chells in the 1960s and later Pin Green and Symonds Green. Another area to the north of the town is Great Ashby - this is still under construction as of 2009.

At least two other public houses are worth mentioning, for they have got a direct relationship to local history: The name of the pub "Edward the Confessor"(closed 2006) could have a connection to the time in which the St Mary Church in nearby Walkern was built, for King Edward ruled from 1042 until his death in 1066. Walkern's village church dates from this time. The second pub with a strong bond to local history seems to be the "Our Mutual Friend" in Shephall, for the name of the pub is the title of a novel by Charles Dickens. Dickens was at some occasion guest to Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton in nearby Knebworth House, and for that reason he knew Stevenage very well. The pedestrianised town centre was the first purpose built traffic-free shopping zone in Britain, and was officially opened in 1959 by the Queen. By the clock tower and ornamental pool is Joyride, a mother and child sculpture by Franta Belsky. Although revolutionary for its time, the town centre is showing signs of age and in 2005 plans were revealed for a major regeneration due to take place over the next decade.

Details are still being debated by the council, landowners and other interested parties. Next to the Town Gardens, the Church of St George and St Andrew is an example of modern church design, and has housed Stevenage Museum in its crypt since 1976. The church is a 'cathedral-like' Grade 2 listed building. It is also the largest parish church to have been built in England since World War Two. Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother laid the Foundation Stone in July 1956 and was also present at the consecration by the Bishop of St Albans, the Right Reverend Michael Gresford-Jones, on Advent Sunday 27 November 1960. The frame is constructed from a 'continuous pour' of concrete into moulds creating interlacing arches and leaving no apparent joints. There are twelve Purbeck marble columns about the High Altar and the external walls are clad in panels faced with Normandy pebble. The campanile houses the loudspeakers for an electro-acoustic carillon.

In the old town centre of Stevenage, next to St Nicholas Church, in the parochial house there, called Rooksnest ("under the big wych-elm") the novelist Edward Morgan Forster lived from 1884 to 1894. Stevenage later acquired a monument through him, when he had Rooksnest in mind as a role model for the setting of his novel Howards End. In the preface of one paperback edition of Howards End, there is a lot to be found about landmarks of Stevenage and their relationship to the story of the novel, such as the Stevenage High Street and the Six Hills. Also close to Stevenage is Knebworth House, a gothic stately home and venue of globally well-known rock concerts since 1974. The house was once home to Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Victorian English novelist and spiritualist, who, as reported by one of his visitors, was so deep in the belief of spiritual realities that he sometimes thought himself to be invisible while others were around. In 1999 a millennium countdown clock was mounted on the town centre clock tower, displaying the time remaining until the year 2000.

The artwork on the clock was designed by Nicola Reed, a pupil of Fearnhill School, Letchworth. Adjacent to, yet separate from the residential parts of the town is the Industrial Area. For many years, British Aerospace (now MBDA) was the largest employer in the town, but now GlaxoSmithKline has a large pharmaceutical research laboratory complex (which is known as 'The Palace' to many of its inhabitants). A smaller but interesting enterprise is Astrium which has for some decades (as part of British Aerospace and its predecessors) manufactured spacecraft, both as prime contractor and equipment supplier. There are many small to medium size firms as well. The town is still growing, is set to expand west of the A1(M) motorway and may be further identified for development depending on the outcome of the Examination In Public of the Regional Spatial Strategy. The main area of recent development is Great Ashby to the northeast of the town (but actually in North Herts District). Stevenage holds a number of annual events, including the Stevenage Town Show (formerly Stevenage Day), Rock in the Park and Stevenage Carnival.

Stevenage has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in the country, and a higher-than-average rate of family and relationship breakdown. While unemployment is below the national average it is nevertheless the highest in Hertfordshire. The employment prospects for many local people in recent years have been uncertain, and are largely based in retail and low-paid service jobs. There is a hi-tech nature of both national and international industry and business in the town. Things to do in Hertfordshire | Days Out | Places to Visit You are here: Counties -> Things to do in Hertfordshire Things to do in Hertfordshire Page Contents Places to visit in Hertfordshire Hertfordshire is one of the smallest Counties in England, containing much of England's heritage, whilst encompassing the requirements of south east England today. Hertfordshire lies between Bedfordshire in the north, Cambridgeshire in the north-east, Buckinghamshire in the west, Essex in the east and central London only twelve miles to the south. The county covers approximately 630 square miles. The Chiltern Hills to the north west of the county are designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Around half of Hertfordshire has been designated as 'Green Belt' and there are 43 sites of Special Scientific Interest, 1 National Nature Reserve and 15 Local Nature Reserves. Farmland, ancient woodland and river valleys combine to make up the beautiful and varied landscape. Away from the main roads many old villages remain unspoiled with thatched cottages and leafy lanes. Walkers will enjoy the Hertfordshire Way, a 166 mile (265 km) circular footpath and there are also designated cycle paths, and canals, rivers and lakes, which provide opportunities for water sports such as sailing and canoeing. Hertfordshire Tourist Information can be found in the County Town of Hertford, which lies at the confluence of the Rivers Beane, Lee, Mimram and Rib. The Lee Navigation Canal runs south from Hertford and barges can be hired for cruises. Hertford has many fine buildings with decorated plasterwork - the Shire Hall in the middle of the town was designed by Robert Adam. The Norman castle was built to protect London from the invading Danes, and the remains are a feature of the town today. The city of St.

Albans has an ancient history to discover and all the amenities of an up to date city. With many specialist shops and good leisure facilities St. Albans has plenty to keep visitors happy. A particular feature is the magnificent Cathedral found in the old part of the city. Best Villages in Hertfordshire Chart Name The Bull Inn on the River Lea 6,410 The following historic towns can be found in the County, all worth visiting and each with its own history to explore: Baldock, Berkhamstead, Bishop's Stortford, Harpenden , Hatfield, Hitchin, Hoddesdon and Tring. Letchworth was the world's first Garden City, planned by Ebenezer Howard in 1903, and this was followed in 1920 by Howard's second development Welwyn Garden City, one of England's finest examples of a new town, with a neo-Georgian town centre, offering excellent shopping facilities. During the 1940s and 50s, new towns were developed around existing old towns, such as the Saxon town of Hatfield, home of Hatfield House .

Stevenage was designated the first New Town in Britain in 1946 and had the first pedestrianised traffic free shopping area in the country. The Old Town still exists with historic buildings, coaching inns and pubs. Borehamwood and Elstree are separated by about a mile, two separate towns, but thought of as one, in connection with the British film industry. Elstree Film and Television Studios has been synonymous with film making for the best part of the last century. Some of the world's best known films and programmes were made at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood. Days out in Hertfordshire County of Hertford | Article about County of Hertford by The Free Dictionary County of Hertford | Article about County of Hertford by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia . Hertfordshire (här`fərdshĭr, härt`–), county (1991 pop. 951,500), 631 sq mi (1,634 sq km), E central England. The county seat is Hertford Hertford, town (1991 pop.

21,350), E central England, on the Lea River. Hertford is an agricultural market with light industries, including brewing, flour milling, and the manufacture of leather goods and stationery. ..... Click the link for more information. , but Watford Watford, borough and district (1991 pop. 109,503), Hertfordshire, SE England. Watford is mainly residential with many kinds of shops. The city is renowned for its publishing and produces many of England's periodicals. ..... Click the link for more information. , Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead , town (1991 pop. 80,110), Hertfordshire, SE England. Hemel Hempstead was designated one of the new towns in 1946 to alleviate overpopulation in London. It is a market town and London suburb. ..... Click the link for more information. , Stevenage Stevenage, city (1991 pop. 74,757) and district, Hertfordshire, E central England.

Stevenage was the first new town to be designated under the New Towns Act of 1946, a program to decentralize population and industry. ..... Click the link for more information. , and St. Albans Saint Albans , city and district (1991 pop. 76,709), Hertfordshire, E central England. The market city of Saint Albans has printing, engineering, and clothing industries. Many of its residents work in London. ..... Click the link for more information. are more important urban centers. Administratively, the county is divided into the districts of Three Rivers, Watford, Hertsmere, Welwyn Hatfield, Broxbourne, East Hertfordshire, Stevenage, North Hertfordshire, St. Albans, and Dacorum. The county contains four of the eight new towns new towns, planned urban communities in Great Britain, developed by long-term loans from the central government and first authorized by the New Towns Act of 1946. The chief purpose of the act was to reduce congestion in the great cities (or at least prevent its increase) through ..... Click the link for more information.

planned around London since 1947: Hatfield Hatfield, town (1991 pop. 33,174), Hertfordshire, SE England. Hatfield was designated one of the new towns in 1948 to alleviate overpopulation in London. The plans for this new town were coordinated with those of nearby Welwyn Garden City. ..... Click the link for more information. , Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, and Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City , town (1991 pop. 40,665), Hertfordshire, E central England. It is a garden city, founded by Ebenezer Howard in 1920, as well as one of the new towns. Its industries produce a variety of products, including radio and television sets. ..... Click the link for more information. . The terrain is level except for an extension of the Chiltern Hills in the northwest. The chief streams are the Colne, the Lea, and the Stort, which drain into the Thames.

Although one of London's "Home Counties," Hertfordshire is primarily an agricultural region, producing large quantities of wheat and hay as well as dairy products, vegetables, and flowers for the nearby London market. There are diverse industries, such as brickmaking, printing, brewing (especially in Watford), papermaking, and engineering. The county figured prominently in the military history of England, particularly during the Wars of the Roses (see Roses, Wars of the Roses, Wars of the, traditional name given to the intermittent struggle (1455–85) for the throne of England between the noble houses of York (whose badge was a white rose) and Lancaster (later associated with the red rose). About the middle of the 15th cent. ..... Click the link for more information. ). Hertfordshire a county of S England, bordering on Greater London in the south: mainly low-lying, with the Chiltern Hills in the northwest; largely agricultural; expanding light industries, esp in the new towns. Administrative centre: Hertford. Pop.: 1 040 900 (2003 est.). Area: 1634 sq. km (631 sq.

miles) New towns - UK Parliament New towns New towns New towns During the inter-war years the success of ‘garden city’ and ‘garden suburb’ projects led to many of the new council estates being built on similar lines. Green spaces Towards the end of the Second World War, attention was directed to the post-war reconstruction of Britain’s towns and communities. The possibility of building new towns had been accepted in 1945 by a government committee chaired by Lord Reith, the founder of the BBC. The committee included a number of leading figures in the Town and Country Planning Association, originally the Garden Cities Association founded in 1899. New towns The 1946 New Towns Act established an ambitious programme for building new towns. It gave the government power to designate areas of land for new town development. A series of ‘development corporations’ set up under the Act were each responsible for one of the projected towns. Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, was the first new town created under the Act, with ten others following by 1955. Most were intended to accommodate the overspill of population from London. Since the 1950s, Parliament has authorised further developments in England, Scotland and Wales.

Town and country planning Parliament saw it as essential to restrict the growth of large cities. The Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 laid down procedures to control urban sprawl into the countryside. All planning was to be subject to planning permission by local councils. Most importantly, every area of the country was to have a ‘development plan’ showing how each area was either to be developed or preserved. Did you know? New Town | UK Housing Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Following World War II, a number of towns were designated under the 1946 Act as New Towns, and were developed partly to house the large numbers of people who had lost homes during the War. New Towns policy was also informed by a series of wartime commissions, including: the Barlow Commission (1940) into the distribution of industrial population, the Scott Committee into rural land use (1941) the Uthwatt Committee into compensation and betterment (1942) (later) the Reith Report into New Towns (1947). The first of a ring of such "first generation" New Towns around London (1946) was Stevenage in Hertfordshire.

Two new towns were also planned in Scotland at East Kilbride (1947), and Glenrothes (1948). Later a scatter of "second-generation" towns were built to meet specific problems, such as the development of the Corby steelworks. Finally, five "third-generation" towns were launched in the late 1960s: these were larger, some of them based on substantial existing settlements such as Peterborough , and the most famous was probably the new town of Milton Keynes , midway between London and Birmingham , known for its huge central park and shopping centre, and its Concrete Cows. Other towns, such as Ashford , Basingstoke and Swindon , were designated "Expanded Towns" and share many characteristics with the new towns. Scotland also gained three more new towns, Cumbernauld in 1956, famous for its enclosed 'town centre', Livingston (1962) and Irvine (1966). All the new towns featured a car-oriented layout with many roundabouts and a grid-based road system unusual in the old world.

The earlier new towns, where construction was often rushed and whose inhabitants were generally plucked out of their established communities with little ceremony, rapidly got a poor press reputation as the home of "new town blues". These issues were systematically addressed in the later towns, with the third generation towns in particular devoting substantial resources to cycle routes, public transport and community facilities, as well as employing teams of officers for social development work. The financing of the UK new towns was creative. Land within the designated area was acquired at agricultural use value by the development corporation for each town, and infrastructure and building funds borrowed on 60-year terms from the UK Treasury. Interest on these loans was rolled up, in the expectation that the growth in land values caused by the development of the town would eventually allow the loans to be repaid in full. However, the high levels of retail price inflation experienced in the developed world in the 1970s and 1980s fed through into interest rates and frustrated this expectation, so that substantial parts of the loans had ultimately to be written off. From the 1970s the first generation towns began to reach their initial growth targets.

As they did so, their development corporations were wound up and the assets disposed of: rented housing to the local authority, and other assets to the Commission for the New Towns (in England; but alternative arrangements were made in Scotland and Wales). The Thatcher Government, from 1979, saw the new towns as a socialist experiment to be discontinued, and all the development corporations were dissolved by 1990, even for the third generation towns whose growth targets were still far from being achieved. Ultimately the Commission for the New Towns was also dissolved and its assets - still including a lot of undeveloped land - passed to the English Industrial Estates Corporation (later known as English Partnerships). Many of the New Towns attempted to incorporate public art and cultural programmes but with mixed methods and results. In Harlow the development corporation endowed the ' Harlow Arts Trust ' that purchased works by leading contemporary sculptors who had limited connection to the town. In Peterlee the abstract artist Victor Pasmore was appointed part of the design team resulting in the Apollo Pavilion. Washington New Town was provided with a community theatre and art gallery. The concrete cows in Milton Keynes resulted from another 'town artist' commission and have gone on to become a recognised landmark.

Glenrothes led the way in Scotland being the first new town to appoint a town artist in 1968. A massive range of artworks (around 132 in total) ranging from concrete hippos to bronze statues, dancing children, giant flowers, a dinosaur, a horse and chariot and crocodiles, to name but a few, were created. Town artists appointed in Glenrothes include David Harding and Malcolm Roberston. In the 1990s an experimental "new town" developed by The Prince of Wales to use very traditional or vernacular architectural styles was started at Poundbury in Dorset. In Northern Ireland, Craigavon in County Armagh was a successful town commenced and built in 1966 outside of Belfast , although entire blocks of flats and shops laid empty, and later derelict, before eventually being bulldozed. The area, which now has a population exceeding 50,000 is mostly a dormitory town for Belfast.

England Newtown (designated December 18, 1967) [22] Northern Ireland Edit The New Towns Act (Northern Ireland) 1965 gave the Minister of Development of the Government of Northern Ireland the power to designate an area as a New Town, and to appoint a Development Commission. An order could be made to transfer municipal functions of all or part of any existing local authorities to the commission, which took the additional title of urban district council, although unelected. This was done in the case of Craigavon. The New Towns Amendment Act (Northern Ireland) 1968 was passed to enable the establishment of the Londonderry Development Commission to replace the County Borough and rural district of Londonderry, and implement the Londonderry Area Plan. On April 3, 1969 the development commission took over the municipal functions of the two councils, the area becoming Londonderry Urban District. Craigavon (designated July 26, 1965) [23] Londonderry (designated February 5, 1969) (see above) [24] References

Question: Which town in Hertfordshire was designated the UK's first 'New Town' in 1946?
Answer: STEVENAGE